Taking The Leap

Hey - who added an extra day onto my year?  We can thank the Gregorian Calendar for this situation.  Because the Gregorian calendar has only 365 day in a year and if we don't add a day on February 29th nearly every four years we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year and after only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days!  

Yikes -- being off 24 days would be a lot more confusing than adding one day every four years.  Certainly the  hours and days go by quickly enough as it is.  I couldn't imagine losing 24 days.  Come to think of it, if I live to be 100 an extra 24 hours  probably wouldn't matter.

So like my friend above I will leap ahead into March - using this extra day of the year to have some fun.  Yes, I could use it to do something really useful - but then it wouldn't really be a great leap.

"When in doubt make a fool of yourself.  There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth.  So what the hell, leap." - Cynthia Heimel

The Never Ending Task

It began so well.  Tidy and neat like a blank slate.

Organization with this and that all in its place.  No hunting around saying the mantra "I know its here somewhere".

Oops, getting a little'busy' here.  Where oh where did I put this or that - probably buried somewhere here.

Oh well, there will be plenty of time for clean up later on.

"It is the harmony of the diverse parts, their symmetry, their happy balance; in a word it is all that introduces order, all that gives unity, that permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details." - Henri Poincare

Hidey Holes

Where do they go, these little ones, when the snow piles deep and the air is cold?
Perhaps they go into their 'hidey-holes'.  Scattered here and there on our property are holes and slots that leave my imagination wide open as to who or what might live within.

Is there a whole little family of voles just sitting down to dinner?  Telling each other what they did during the day? And giving thanks for no more snow to hinder their run abouts?

Are the 'children' being read to as they snuggle down into their bed? Or at the very least are oral tales being told of the strength of their early settlers?

Shhh, I don't dare disturb them.  Its enough to know that a whole family might live right beneath my feet. I wish them warmth during these long winter nights.

"The home should be the treasure chest of living." - Le Corbusier

Trash Talk

Who would ever think that a trip to the local transfer station (which used to be called 'the dump') would become somewhat of a natural history adventure.

Our transfer station is located with low grassy hills surrounding the back of it.  Sometimes the grass gets long enough that they bring in a herd of goats to prune things back.  

Those grassy slopes are also a permanent home to a large group of wild turkeys.  They look huge even from as far away as the dumpsters.

And speaking of dumpsters -- one has become the 'restaurant' for a local raccoon.  The employees built a ladder for him because of course the dumpsters are taken away periodically and they didn't want him to be taken away with it.

I love the fact that we have this facility where we can sort out all of our recyclables and trash.  I hate that we seem to produce so much of it.  But I'm happy to see these critters nibbling away.

"Ours is a country and a time immensely rich in trash as it is in treasures." - Ray Bradbury Zen in the Art of Writing

Valentine Moppet

Sunday, February 14th

Happy Valentines Day!  What a surprise I got this morning -- a mug full of Hershey's Kisses Chocolates.  As I always say - 'sweets to the sweet'. 

Do I look happy?  Well of course I am -- after all what could be wrong on a holiday that is marked by chocolate.

Monday, February 15th

Hey - wait a minute. Who ate all my  chocolate??? Did you do it? Or did you do it? Oh well, whoever it is hope you enjoyed them as much as I did (however next time, please leave a few more for me).
  
"All you need is love.  But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." - Charles M. Shulz

A Foggy Morning

Our deep blue sky is shrouded in fog.  It is as if the whole planet (or at least our little corner of it) has been covered with a layer of silver grey gauze.

It is silent and thick and changes my world view.  Suddenly my gaze is shortened.  There is mystery out here.    I am alone in a quietly mystical world.  

I am cocooned in nature and silence and thought.  Shhhh, perhaps if I continue to stay quiet the sun won't come in and steal the fog away. 

"Let us go in, the fog is rising" 

 Emily Dickinson

Natural Art

Can you imagine, walking through a forest and all of a sudden this appears ahead of you? Oh I can imagine it but unfortunately it is so far away that I'll never see it in person.

Sculptural artist Spencer Byles spent a year creating beautiful sculptures out of natural and found materials throughout the unmanaged forest of La Colle Sur Loup, where he lived with his family.

This project is intentionally secretive -- the only way you'll see these works, short of photographs, is by going into the woods and finding them yourself.  What magic that would be!

Everything being natural these are not meant to last a long time.  As each sculpture is reclaimed by nature it will also change through the seasons.  

For me this is true art -- something made by hand and heart, with instincts and learned talents.   Being natural these pieces will change and eventually disappear -- which makes them even more precious and wonderful.

"The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness." - John Muir

Hibernation

                                                                     Groundhog

This time of the year my mind and body want to go into hibernation.  I want to snuggle down someplace warm and nest myself until oh maybe March or April.

                                                                          Dormouse

I'm not alone in this.  While humans don't really hibernate there is this inclination, when the weather is cold and the days are short, to want to be safe and warm and even asleep. 

                                                                             Squirrels

This is the time of the year that I realize the young squirrels have the right idea, as do the groundhogs and the hazel dormouse.  Don't they look cozy?

"Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action." - Ralph Ellison

Mittens Moppet

"HEY! Has anyone seen my mittens?  I've looked and looked through the pile at the back door and can't find them."

"I really need them -- a snowball fight is going on right now and I'm stuck inside with no mittens."

"Oh boy -- I found them at last.  Where were they you ask?  Well, ummm, in my pockets...
Okay next time I'll look there first!"

"A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship." - Markus Zusak, The Book Thief